Test System for Detection of Antibodies to Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus

Antibodies to viruses are called immunoglobulins - IgM, IgG, IgA. IgM have a maximum titer in the first days of the disease (the patient’s serum begins to show it at the end of the first week of the disease), appear later than IgM and remain longer in the blood serum - up to several months.

IgG appears 2-3 weeks after the onset of the disease and reaches its maximum concentration in the second month of the disease. From this point on, the concentration of IgM gradually decreases, and IgG increases. At the beginning of the second week, there may be a temporary increase in IgM at the level of IgA (their indicators are already closer to the norm). If immunoblot analysis shows the presence of IgM, then we can say with great confidence that there is an acute form of tick-borne viral encephalitis (it is called spring-summer or “South Russian”).

If serum does not show immunoglobules during ELISA analysis, this does not mean that the person does not have antibodies. The main problem is weak test systems. The fact is that, having become infected with tick-borne encephalitis, the cells of the immune system “hurriedly” begin to produce